And So It Begins
by Boogie-Jam
Summary: Everything was quiet upon the fall of the great tower, though Lady feels a very familiar presence still looming...
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Devil May Cry or its characters; they belong to Capcom.

Pairings (eventually): Dante x Lady, ??? x ??? (surprise)

Contains spoilers if you haven't played any of the games (mainly 3 and 4).

* * *

Silence filled the streets, save for the distant rolling thunder and occasional litter being blown by the night's chilling breeze. Streetlights flickered, a few insects swirling beneath them craving the bright warmth. The clouds overhead would soon part to allow the full moon and the hazy ring that surrounded it to be visible.

Footfalls would then fill the air as a woman proceeded down the vacant streets, a slight metallic clank coming from her as she adjusted the large weapon upon her back. She was known to many as Lady though there were a select few that knew of her real name; Mary. This was an identity that she did not relate to very well due to relations with her father, and for this she had good reason. And though he was gone, Lady still felt a looming presence; something that she had just recently begun to feel. This compelled her to seek the aid of someone who was certain to oblige to her request.

Thankfully she would reach her destination, dual toned eyes gazing up to the flickering neon sign. Bringing down her gaze Lady would take hold of the door's handle, pulling it open and stepping inside.

"Well well, haven't seen you around for a while," came the very familiar voice of Dante, reclining in the seat behind his desk. Boot clad feet were propped up and crossed, arms tucked behind his head. Evidently the half-demon was in the process of eating as an opened pizza box lay atop the desk.  
"Nice to see you too, Dante," said Lady, closing the door before making her way over. The Kalina-Ann that was slung over her shoulder would be placed on the floor before she placed a gloved hand on the desk, the other resting on her waist. "Have you had any jobs lately?"

"Nah, its been pretty slow," Dante replied with a sigh, apparently disappointed. "Seems like all the demons went into hiding or something." The half-demon quirked a brow, moving his feet as the front legs of the chair thudded to the floor. "You make me feel special, coming to make small talk," he said with a smile.

"Actually I came here to ask for your help."

"Aw, so you didn't miss me?"

"Sorry, afraid not," Lady said with a smirk of her own. "Anyway you know I took care of Arkham after you and Vergil fought him, right?"

"Yeeeah..."

"Well recently I've been getting this feeling, and I don't like it; I think he may still be alive."

Dante gave a chuckle and a shake of his head before grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. "Come on, Lady, you emptied four bullets in his skull and you don't think that did him in, even after we dealt with him?"

"You know as well as I do how corrupt he was, how he was so driven to become a demon. What if that's happening right now?"

"Hmm..." The half-demon appeared to be in thought as he ate the pizza in his hand. "Let's say that he is. Where do you think he would be?"

"I don't know...maybe we can find something where the Temen-ni-Gru was?"  
"May be a longshot but its better than starting with nothing I guess" said Dante, licking his fingers once he was finished. He would rise from his chair to outstretch his arms, cracking his neck before wandering over to the pool table where he had thrown his coat.

"So I take it you're going to help me then?" Lady asked, leaning a hip against the desk as she glanced over to the other demon hunter.

"Yeah, but I expect payment afterwards," Dante replied, looking over his shoulder before slipping on his coat.

"I knew you would say that." Folded bills would be pulled from one of Lady's boots before she approached Dante, an arm outstretching to hand them to him. "A downpayment."

The son of Sparda nodded his approval once he took the money and counted the amount before stuffing the wad into a pocket. A smirk would be given to Lady who would then return the gesture, moving back to retrieve the Kalina-Ann. Slinging the weapon over her shoulder by its strap the woman followed after Dante as he made for the door, taking up his sword and pistols along the way. When the air outside greeted them and the two stepped outside, Lady felt extremely grateful to have the half-demon alongside her during this venture.

- - - - - -

The great Temen-ni-Gru once stood tall within the city, casting its shadow upon the earth below its looming structure. Once it was home to the demons of Hell, spitting them forth into the streets like an uncontrollable plague. Though when Arkham had fallen and the gate to the demon world was sealed, at last the swarms of the damned ceased, bringing the tower to the ground. What remained was a huge mess of stone and steel, all visible entries no longer accessible. Humans kept their distance from the site, feeling it a bad omen to step upon its grounds. They had every right of course, given the tower's history.

Lady felt a cold shiver run through her spine. She would have liked to say it was due to the faint breeze that picked up, but she knew better; it had come once she set foot near the base of the fallen tower. The demon hunter did not realize that she had stopped, dual toned eyes gazing upon the wreckage in silence.

"I always thought your gaze could be deadly but do you think it can burn a way in?" Dante remarked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he turned to Lady.

"You better keep comments like that to yourself, if you want to keep your balls," Lady retorted, giving the half-demon a sarcastic smile as she shifted Kalina-Ann's weight. She walked ahead of Dante, stepping carefully as some of the debris was still loose.

It still amazed her how she could put up with Dante after all this time, but she supposed she had grown used to it. Sure he thought he was tough shit, acted like a hot-shot, but Dante had his moments. Very few, mind you, but they were still there. And while Lady would probably not admit it, Dante was the only one she really called a friend. In their line of work it made it difficult to make some, and Lady wasn't exactly the sociable type; but since the two always ran into each other, it was going to happen eventually.

"I do like a woman with fire," the son of Sparda chuckled, now a few feet above on a section that may have previously been pillars. A sudden gunshot caused him to flinch, a bullet piercing the stone to the right of his head. Dante whipped his head around to look down at Lady, a faint trace of a scowl on his face.

"What, I thought you liked that?" she asked, a trail of smoke winding its way from the tip of her handgun.

"I didn't mean SHOOTING me; I'd rather not have another hole in my head," Dante said, tapping at his forehead.

As she holstered the firearm Lady paused, eyes moving from their place on Dante to look in a higher direction. The other demon hunter noticed her change of gaze and followed it, noticing a few chips of stone rolling down the mess. It was definitely up too high for Lady's shot to have caused it, and soon a trickle of sand slowly ran out from between the cracks.

"Looks like something may have found its way out," said Dante, drawing Ebony and Ivory. "Which means a way in for us," he added, aiming the twin guns at the spot of movement.

It was silent for a moment until a larger piece of rock shifted, bursting forth and plummeting to the ground below. This would be followed by an increased stream of sand, the head of a Hell Gluttony soon emerging. The demon had little time to pull itself out, however, before Dante emptied a number of bullets into its skull. Now dead the creature collapsed, disintegrating into a thin layer of sand that trailed away in the upcoming breeze.

"I get this feeling that you may have been right, Lady," said Dante. "Or someone else is up to some old tricks."


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Devil May Cry or its characters; they belong to Capcom.

Pairings (eventually): Dante x Lady, ??? x ??? (surprise)

Contains spoilers if you haven't played any of the games (mainly 3 and 4).

* * *

There was no doubt something was brewing within the depths of the demon world; he could feel it. While his hand usually held a firm grip on those lower than himself, it seemed as though some were being influenced by another power. It angered him that the source of this power was blind to his eyes, hiding somewhere just outside of his grasp. Of course it would not be long, he supposed, until the little snake slithered its way into the open.

- - - - - -

"This place is more of a dump than yours," Lady commented, brushing the sand and dust from herself once they finally emerged from the passage created by the demon. "Something I didn't think I would ever see."

The room was still somewhat intact, most of the statues that were toppled over being barely unrecognizable. Only a small portion of the floor was in its original form, angled in a downwards slant before it transformed to a pile of rubble. While the door was mostly covered by the mess a space had been cleared, most likely done so by the demon they had seen emerging earlier. Lady kneeled down by this opening, gazing down through the hole to get a better glimpse at what was beyond that room.

"Ouch, that hurt," said Dante, mocking a hurt expression that was soon replaced by a smirk as he eyed the other demon hunter, getting a nice shot from behind. The son of Sparda would let out a whistle, responded to with a glare shot over Lady's shoulder. "You know what's funny…" Dante began, changing the subject to something of slight more importance, "…that these demons aren't the brightest of the bunch, so how it managed to clear a path on its own and get out is beyond me." He would kneel on the opposite side of Lady, gazing downward.

"You think they could be following orders?" she asked, looking to Dante before directing her eyes into the darkness.

"Who knows, but I'm sure there's more where that came from," he said, rising to his feet. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lady replied, standing and giving a smile to Dante.

"Ladies first," he said, stepping back and giving a small bow, motioning his hand toward the opening. Though before the woman had a chance to reply they were both greeted by a sudden rush of blood-goyles, the crimson demons shrieking as they circled overhead.

The two drew their guns simultaneously, firing upon the demonic avians and dodging quickly as those that were shot transformed to stone, falling to the floor. Dante would holster his two guns, pulling Rebellion from his back and swinging the great sword to shatter the blood-goyles to pieces. The few that he did not reach were disposed of by the blade upon Kalina-Ann, Lady handling the heavy firearm with ease. A larger blood-goyle would soon emerge from the opening in the floor, flying sporadically through the air before it would be accompanied by a secondary demon of the same size. Before either of the demon hunters had time to fire the creatures split themselves, bringing their numbers to four instead of two. They were smaller, of course, though were now able to move about faster.

Two of the blood-goyles would dive toward Dante, the other two targeting his female counterpart. While the son of Sparda fired upon one of the oncoming demons, the other suddenly changed direction, latching on to Lady from behind as she was concentrating on those in front of her. The blood-goyle pulled back, causing the woman to fire directly upwards at one of the rising avians. Her bullet struck home, and dual toned eyes widened as the stone form fell from above. Unable to retrieve her weapon from her back due to the attached demon, Lady felt the heavy weight come into contact with her body, and soon both her and the two blood-goyles fell downwards into the hole.

Lady managed to fire behind her back at the demon during the fall, its hardened body breaking through a couple layers of rubble before shattering itself. She shoved the blood-goyle atop her aside, but not before shoving an active grenade into its mouth. The woman shielded her face, turning away as bits of stone exploded in every direction.

"Decide to take the express down?" came Dante's voice, the half-demon soon jumping from above and landing beside Lady.

"Oh thanks Dante," she said, taking his hand once he had offered it to her.

"Guess we better be on our toes, eh?" he commented, pulling Lady closer and gazing into those eyes that he found so captivating yet…

His train of thought was interrupted by a rising knee to his groin, an irritated Lady prying herself from his grasp. And while she turned away quickly, Dante could have sworn he spotted a tint to her cheeks.

"Strike one, hot-shot," she said, moving toward the gap opened by the grenade's explosion.

The son of Sparda winced, bending over slightly. While he was accustomed to pain and not much affected him, it still hurt getting hit in the balls.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Devil May Cry or its characters; they belong to Capcom.

Pairings (eventually): Dante x Lady, ??? x ???, ??? x ???

Contains spoilers if you haven't played any of the games (mainly 3 and 4).

- - - -

There are many more chapters to come; I have a lot planned for this fic :)

* * *

"Hey, Lady," Dante spoke from behind the woman as she lead the way through the ruined corridor. "Don't you think using those grenades of yours could help us get down faster?"

"It could, if we wanted the rest of the tower to fall on our heads," she would reply, the tone of her voice indicating how stupid she thought Dante's question was.

"Geez, sorry; it was just a thought," he said, kicking at a loose piece of stone and watching it roll towards the wall.

A small entryway would greet them at the corridor's end, leading to a winding staircase that descended awkwardly. Sections of the steps were cracked and broken, the pieces of scattered rubble proving to be a slight hindrance in the walk downward. The angle of the stairs slowly began to change, and soon the two hunters would find themselves almost walking on the wall to their left. It continued on so for a few minutes until the stairs straightened for the most part, though a new obstacle would be found at the bottom. A large section of the floor at the base of the staircase was gone, obliterated in the collapse.

"One thing after another, isn't it?" said Dante, arms crossed over his chest as he stood beside Lady.

"What, you can't cross it?" she asked, looking to him with a smirk as she pulled the large firearm from her back. With it aimed at a portion of wall across the gap Lady would launch the blade, causing it to pierce the stone and providing a cord for her to zip across. As she did so Dante jumped from his position, feet landing on the opposite platform moments before Lady reached it.

"You were saying?" Dante smirked, leaning against the wall as Lady removed the blade.

"Show-off," the woman muttered, slinging the weapon over her shoulder.

Dante was the one to take the lead now, stepping up on the chunks of debris to reach the room beyond. Iron chandeliers hung from the ceiling, a number of them held only by a single length of chain. One had evidently fallen as it leaned against the wall, a portion of it concealed by rubble. It was after Dante's gaze moved from this chandelier that he noticed several masks upon the wall; six, to be exact. They were a dull green in color, ornate etchings carved into their human features. Large cracks disfigured a few, though the other three appeared unscathed.

The son of Sparda drew his trusted handguns, twirling Ebony while Ivory was held against his shoulder. He would walk a few more steps before stopping, taking aim at one of the intact masks and firing. As soon as it was hit the mask pulled itself into the wall, soon followed by the other two.

"Looks like we got company again."

Just as the words escaped Dante, two of the masks re-emerged and soon fully exposed themselves. Their bodies were composed of tattered robes, black as shadows and vaporous in appearance. Both wielded a pair of giant scissors, the rusted blades clashing together as the demons snipped at the air. They circled slowly until fired upon by the demon hunters, quickly disappearing through the ceiling. It was evident that the demons were still present as the lower portion of their bodies could be seen moving overhead.

One of the dark creatures charged through the wall, scissors opened wide and ready to close on Lady as her handgun followed the other above. Dante was first to fire, two bullets flying on either side of the woman's head to strike the demon's face. Lady would open fire shortly after, pulling a second handgun from its holster. While she was occupied with that demon Dante took the chance to target the other that slowly emerged, though it quickly moved into the floor once it was fired at. It seemed as if the demon thought it could catch the son of Sparda by surprise as it suddenly plummeted through the ceiling, giant blades clashing together. Dante was expecting this, and so charged his handguns once the creature had disappeared from sight. Firing the shots would temporarily stun the demon, Dante releasing an array of bullets in rapid succession.

Lady's target was slowly forced closer to the wall from her shots and eventually concealed itself behind the stone. Holstering her handguns the woman readied Kalina-Ann, standing her ground as the demon began to emerge. Its soulless gaze was focused on her as it snipped at the air, the creature beginning to lean back. Lady knew this meant a charge was imminent, and once this was proven she released a missile into the quickly approaching mask. The demon was destroyed at the same moment as the one Dante had been shooting, the son of Sparda giving a thumbs up to Lady after he hand placed Ebony and Ivory back in their places.

Dante wondered, though, where the other had ran off to.

The third Sin Scissors that was first fired upon hovered in the shadows, gazing upon the black mucous covered figure before it.

"So she…is on her way. Capture her…and bring her to me."


End file.
